Inaugural McDaniel Medallion awarded to Ethan Seidel

Ethan Seidel, who has served as an administrator and professor at McDaniel since 1969, was honored at the college’s May 24 Commencement as the inaugural recipient of the McDaniel Medallion.

The new award is given to a member of the McDaniel community with an exemplary record of sustained and acknowledged contribution to the progress of the college, to the quality of life in Westminster, Carroll County or the region, and who exemplifies the ideals of the College’s namesake, William Roberts McDaniel. In addition, the awardee will serve as a role model of the ideals in our students-first mission.

Seidel is stepping down as vice president for administration and finance after serving in this position since 1993 to return to teach and serve as chair of the Economics and Business Administration department.

“It is our great fortune that while (Ethan) has chosen to relinquish the role of an administrator, he will return to his first and forever love, that is, of teaching,” said President Roger Casey in announcing the award. “Everywhere I travel when the discussion turns to McDaniel College, someone mentions Ethan Seidel.”

In his current role at the college, Seidel oversees a $59-million operating budget and was responsible for budget planning and oversight, campus construction and renovation, management of the college’s endowment and operations, including campus planning, improvements and maintenance, human resources, for-profit rentals and contractual agreements including the Baltimore Ravens Training Camp and WMC Development Corporation, the college’s for-profit enterprise. He also served as a liaison to the McDaniel Board of Trustees.

Under Seidel’s leadership, the college’s finances have seen a decade of clean audits, McDaniel’s endowment has grown to $110 million and almost every academic building has been renovated. His oversight of the campus master plan has yielded new construction of Merritt Hall, Merritt Fitness Center, North Village and the Kenneth R. Gill Stadium. He assisted the college in receiving a $1.5 million capital grant from the State of Maryland for the renovation of Hoover Library and improvements to WMC Alumni Hall.

He was selected in 1981 and 1991 for the college’s Distinguished Teaching Award and was one of 20 economists nationwide in 1982 to receive the Leavey Award for Excellence in Free Enterprise Education. The Ethan A. Seidel Chair in Economics and Business Administration was established in 2009 in his honor by board chair Martin K.P. Hill and his wife, Kelly W. Hill. He also travels frequently to meet and talk with former students at alumni events and visit with alumni at Homecoming and reunions.

Currently, Seidel is vice chair of the Carroll Hospital Center Board of Directors, member of the Greater Westminster Development Corporation and is serving his fourth term on the Carroll County Economic Development Commission representing Education.

A resident of Westminster, Md., he earned his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from Johns Hopkins University and his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He is a graduate of Baltimore City College.